Category Archives: Uncategorized

After the long hours of staring at the ground, it’s nice to give that neck a stretch and look up! In this weeks’ blog, I (Amy) want to give a shout out to those little flying machines that have been serenading us with sweet melodies during our long work days. American goldfinches perched near a field […]

Members of the genus Calochortus, more commonly known as mariposa lilies, are often considered overlooked gems of forested and grassland ecosystems. These diminutive lilies are found along the North American Pacific coast, from Southern Canada to Central America. Species can vary greatly in both appearance and habit. Calochortus coxii. Photo credit: Emma MacDonald Calochortus coxii, […]

This month has been a busy one! With all of the projects that we have to tackle, there just isn’t time to write about each one. So for this week’s post, here are some snapshots from our busy month of surveys and monitoring. We may talk more about some of these projects later on–but for now, enjoy […]

Lomatium cookii, or Cook’s desert parsley, is a native parsley endemic to wet grassy meadows and along vernal pools of Southwest Oregon. Many of the largest federally managed remaining sub-populations are located in the Illinois River Valley in Josephine County. Lomatium cookii has been listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife […]

Wetland Prairie Restoration: An Online Resource is a comprehensive introduction to the history and ecology of wetland prairies in the Willamette Valley and overview of the restoration process. This new online resource is based on the soon-to-be-completed ‘Practical Guidelines for Wetland Prairie Restoration in the Willamette Valley, Oregon,’ which distills 10 years of research and […]

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿This past week, we took a trip down to the Umpqua River basin near Roseburg, OR to monitor Lupinus oreganus (Kincaid’s lupine), which is a federally threatened species and an obligate host plant to the endangered Icaricia icarioides fenderi (Fender’s blue butterfly). This area is home to the southernmost populations of L. oreganus. Lupinus oreganus typically occurs in native upland […]

Tom Brewster donated endless hours to make over 100 bird boxes for students of IAE partner schools who are part of the Ever Green Riparian Stewards Program. IAE is ever grateful to Tom for his amazing contributions to our Ecological Education Program and to the lives of young people and their teachers. Tom Brewster, from […]

Last week an IAE team monitored Nelson’s checkermallow at experimental plots to compare the success of planting seeds, plugs or rhizomes, four years after establishment. The plots were at 6 Wetlands Reserve Program (NRCS) conservation easements in the Willamette Valley. Pictured are summer field crew members Scott Orr, Emma MacDonald and Amy Comstock, and IAE […]

We’re at it again! This time, however, instead of scouting out a rare flower, we are attempting to eradicate the all too familiar Brachypodium sylvaticum (false-brome). Although B. sylvaticum may not be as ostentatious as other invasives, such as Himalayan blackberry and Scotch broom, do not underestimate the effect that this intruder can have on […]

Our most recent field study took us to French Flats near Cave Junction, Oregon. We were lucky enough to enjoy sunny and warm weather while surveying Lomatium cookii, a southern Oregon endemic parsley. This little guy was a little upset we were surveying in his territory. He gave us a show and then went on […]

Fritillaria gentneri (Gentner’s fritillary)Photo credit: Scott Orr The 2014 field season kicked-off last week with a trip down to Grants Pass, OR. Our mission was to monitor an endangered population of Fritillaria gentneri (Gentner’s fritillary). F. gentneri is endemic to a small portion of Southern Oregon and Northern California with the largest number of individuals […]

The 2014 field season is gearing up and the IAE Conservation Research crew will be back on the road to conduct annual monitoring and research on plant species and ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest. Projects scheduled for this year include monitoring and researching management techniques for the Cook’s desert parsley, surveying for Cusick’s lupine in […]